February 17, 2019.
At Makibi Park in Yata, Mabi, an event was held for the first time.
The theme was “Connecting with the people you want to see.”
We covered the festival, held in the hope that it would become a place where people could connect with those they wanted to see, regardless of whether they had been affected by the disaster or where they currently lived. Here is our report.
The information presented here was accurate when this article was published in March 2019. Please note that it may differ from current information.
The purpose behind planning the “Mabi New Year Festival”
The “Mabi New Year Festival” was planned to introduce people to the many support organizations. It was also intended to provide a place where residents could discuss their concerns and connect them with specific support organizations, creating an opportunity to bring people together.
The festival was held in February 2019, and its purpose was also to let people know that support activities were still underway and to share what would remain important even more than six months after the July 2018 torrential rains.
The event was planned by Noriaki Kitayama, representative of “team Momotaro.”
Guided by the slogan “Share, connect, take action, and help one another,” Kitayama launched “team Momotaro” on July 7, 2018, and has been involved in recovery support since immediately after the disaster.
Opening remarks
Remarks by Noriaki Kitayama
Kitayama
Those affected by the torrential rains in July 2018 went through an extremely difficult disaster, and I think that at the time they must have been completely bewildered.
We planned the “Mabi New Year Festival” so that people who had left Mabi and were living in temporary housing would know that support organizations were still active as of February 2019.
Whether or not someone was affected by the disaster, I hope we can create a place where people can say, “I got to see that person; I saw them here again today.”
Rather than doing this ourselves, we want everyone to work together to make this event a success. Thank you!
Remarks by Chairman Okuda of the Sono Community Development Promotion Committee
Okuda
I hope everyone can see through events like this how Mabi is working hard to recover and rebuild as quickly as possible.
And I hope that Mabi can return to how it was before, and that as many people from Mabi as possible can come back.
The booth of the nonprofit organization “Okayama Beauty Summit”
We visited the booth of “Okayama Beauty Summit,” a group of professionals in beauty, health, relaxation, food, clothing, and housing, working to enrich people’s minds and bodies and revitalize communities in Okayama.
We spoke with Noriko Imada of the beauty salon CP Salon Farna, which had operated in Yata, Mabi.
Imada
The women of Mabi who were affected by the disaster were so busy cleaning up their homes that they didn’t even have time to think about caring for their skin.
Especially during difficult times, it’s important to make time to care for yourself, perhaps with a hand massage between tasks.
Taking care of your body and mind and tending to your emotional well-being can have a soothing effect and help you feel better.
Both my home and my shop were affected by the disaster in Mabi, but I volunteered by giving hand massages and doing other activities.
There were women in Mabi who felt relieved by the massages and were happy to receive them. That made me want to reopen my business in Mabi and do my best to help as many people as possible return there.
We plan to reopen in March 2019 at a new location in Arii, Mabi, so please stop by if you can.
I also had a hand massage for about five minutes, and having part of my body loosened up made me smile and feel relaxed.
The Mabi Photo Cleaning @ Raccoon booth
We spoke with Yasushi Morita of the Kurashiki City Disaster Volunteer Coordinator Liaison Group, who is involved with “Mabi Photo Cleaning @ Raccoon.”
“Mabi Photo Cleaning @ Raccoon Okayama” is a group established as the photo-cleaning operations team of the Kurashiki City Disaster Volunteer Center and the Kurashiki City Council of Social Welfare.
“Raccoon” itself is a volunteer network for photo-cleaning activities that spread across Japan after the Great East Japan Earthquake.
After the July 2018 torrential rains, a “Raccoon” group was also established in Okayama Prefecture.
At the festival booth, visitors could clean photos themselves. The team also displayed unidentified photos so their owners could find them, and accepted photos for cleaning.
They also explained the photo-cleaning process and methods using display panels.
Each photo is carefully dried, cut out of its album, and washed to remove the mud. The work is done slowly and meticulously.
Those who are unable to volunteer for physically demanding tasks help with the work, saying, “I’m glad I could do something, however small, to help someone.”
You can buy household goods and clothes, but you can’t buy photos filled with memories.
We helped display unidentified photos filled with memories: wedding photos, photos taken when children were born, and photos of families spending time together.
Many people from elsewhere in Kurashiki and outside the prefecture take part, but Morita told us that he hopes more local people from Mabi will participate, so the activity can grow as a community effort.
If you haven’t been able to volunteer before but would like to do something, however small, why not help clean photos?
The beloved singing duo “im im” in Mabi
Many artists sang, danced, and performed on stage.
We watched a performance by im im, a vocal duo who have continued recovery support and volunteer activities in Mabi and have also performed live.
On the day of the festival, Ken, his partner, was unable to attend because he had the flu, but Kohei’s cheerful performance, singing and getting the audience excited all by himself, made a strong impression.
From little girls to grandfathers and grandmothers, everyone waved along to the songs, and the time was filled with smiles.
I realized that songs and performances are a source of energy.
Closing remarks
Kitayama
Thank you all for coming to the Mabi New Year Festival today.
This was the first time I had organized an event like this, and I wondered how it would turn out and what kinds of encounters it would bring.
I was truly happy to see everyone chatting together in such a warm and cheerful atmosphere.
It made me realize once again that it doesn’t matter what district or community you’re from.
There are all kinds of events, I thought, and what struck me this time was that if you keep at something, you can make it happen, whatever it is.
I thought we were able to hold such a big event in such a short time thanks to everyone’s efforts.
I believe this became a place where people could meet, connect, and help one another.
Thank you so much.
Next, we spoke with Noriaki Kitayama, who gave remarks at the opening and closing ceremonies, about how the event came to be held and his thoughts now that it has concluded.
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